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Afa
|birth_place = Samoa |death_date = |death_place = |resides = Minneola, Florida |billed = |trainer = Kurt von Steiger Peter Maivia Rocky Johnson |debut = 1971 |retired = 1994 }} Arthur "Afa" Anoa'i, Sr. (November 21, 1942) is a Samoan-American retired professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager. Since retiring in the 1990s, he has operated the World Xtreme Wrestling promotion and trained wrestlers at the Wild Samoan Training Facility. Early life Anoa'i was born in Samoa, but his family relocated to San Francisco, California in the United States of America when he was young. At the age of 17, Anoa'i enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. Wrestling career Upon leaving the Marine Corps, Anoa'i began training as a wrestler under family friends Rocky Johnson and Peter Maivia, later receiving supplementary training from Kurt Von Steiger. He debuted in 1971, wrestling his first match in Phoenix, Arizona. Anoa'i subsequently trained his brother Sika, and the siblings formed a tag team known as the Wild Samoans. Throughout the 1970s, the Wild Samoans competed for the Canadian Stampede Wrestling promotion, where they received supplementary training from Stu Hart, and for numerous National Wrestling Alliance affiliates. In 1978, the Wild Samoans traveled to Japan and competed for the International Wrestling Alliance, winning the IWA Tag Team Championship. World Wrestling Federation In 1979, the Wild Samoans joined the World Wide Wrestling Federation, where they were partnered with manager Lou Albano and renamed "Albano's Wildmen". The "wild" nature of the brothers was highlighted by their unorthodox behavior, which included communicating only in unintelligible grunts and consuming unprepared raw fish during interviews and on approach to the ring. While in the WWWF (renamed the World Wrestling Federation, or WWF, in 1979) the Wild Samoans won the WWWF World Tag Team Championship and challenged Bob Backlund for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship on several occasions. They left the promotion in 1980. The Wild Samoans wrestled in Mid-South Wrestling and Jim Crockett Promotions before returning to the WWF in 1983 and regaining the WWF World Tag Team Championship. When Sika suffered an injury, the tag team was supplemented by Anoa'i's son Samu. The trio remained in the WWF until 1984. Anoa'i returned to the WWF for a third time in 1992 as the manager of The Headshrinkers, Samu and Anoai's nephew Fatu. Anoa'i remained with the WWF until 1994. Later career Upon leaving the WWF, he began training wrestlers at the Wild Samoan Training Facility along with his brother. On March 31, 2007, the Wild Samoans were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Samu and Sika's son, Matt. He was the wrestling trainer for Darren Aronofsky's 2008 film The Wrestler, starring Mickey Rourke. In wrestling *'Finishing moves' **''Anoa'i Kick'' (Savate kick) **(Diving seated senton)from the second rope *'Nicknames' **The Dream Maker **The Godfather of Professional Wrestling **Pops **The Wild Samoan *'Wrestlers managed' **Headshrinker Fatu **Samoan Savage **Samu **Headshrinker Sionne **Yokozuna *'Wrestlers trained' Championships and accomplishments *'Championship Wrestling from Florida' **NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Sika *'Continental Wrestling Association' **AWA Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Sika *'Georgia Championship Wrestling' **NWA National Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Sika *'Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling' **NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Sika *'International Wrestling Alliance' **IWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Sika *'Mid-South Wrestling Association' **Mid-South Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Sika *'NWA All-Star Wrestling' **[[NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version)|NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version)]] (1 time) - with Sika *'NWA Detroit' **[[NWA Detroit World Tag Team Championship|NWA World Tag Team Championship (Detroit version)]] (2 times) - with Sika *'Southeastern Championship Wrestling' **[[NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Championship#NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship (Southern Division)|NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Southern Division)]] (2 times) - with Sika *'Stampede Wrestling' **Stampede International Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Sika *'World Wrestling Entertainment / World Wrestling Federation' **WWF Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Sika **WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2007) Acting career *''Body Slam'' (1987) *''Miami Vice'' (1987) in the episode "By Hooker by Crook" as "Henchman #2" *''Mr. Nanny'' (1993) See also *Afa Anoa'i's event history External links * WWE.com Profile * Afa Anoa'i profile at CAGEMATCH.net *WildSamoan.com (Official Website) de:Afa Category:Samoan wrestlers Category:Anoa'i family Category:WWE Hall of Fame inductees Category:Wrestling executives Category:Managers and valets Category:Championship Wrestling From Florida alumni Category:Continental Championship Wrestling alumni Category:Continental Wrestling Association alumni Category:Georgia Championship Wrestling alumni Category:Florida Championship Wrestling alumni Category:Jim Crockett Promotions alumni Category:NWA All-Star Wrestling alumni Category:NWA Detroit alumni Category:Stampede Wrestling alumni Category:Universal Wrestling Federation (Bill Watts) alumni Category:World Wrestling Entertainment alumni Category:World Xtreme Wrestling alumni Category:1942 births Category:1971 debuts Category:WWE Hall of Fame Category:WWE World Tag Team Champions Category:Former military Category:Living people Category:National Wrestling Alliance alumni Category:1994 retirements Category:Professional wrestling trainers Category:American Wrestling Association alumni Category:East Coast Pro Wrestling alumni Category:International World Class Championship Wrestling alumni Category:International Wrestling alumni Category:Maple Leaf Wrestling alumni Category:National Wrestling Federation alumni Category:New Japan Pro Wrestling alumni Category:NWA Big Time Wrestling alumni Category:Universal Wrestling Federation (Herb Abrams) alumni Category:World Wrestling Alliance alumni Category:World Wrestling Council alumni Category:Male wrestlers